Sunday, May 31, 2015

Setting & Society Sunday - Medieval Peasants & Immigrants

Three from the Medievalists.net this week with the first being "Were the Peasants Really So Clean? The Middle Ages in Film" here.


Also, "A peasant is a peasant, is a peasant? : Medieval Maritime Peasant Lives" here.


Finally, "Immigrants made up 1% of the population in Medieval England, researchers find" here.


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Saturday, May 30, 2015

Saturday in Space - Launch America, Space Cannon, & Searching Space for Life

Over on NASA.com, they tell us "Boeing Completes First Milestone for NASA’s Commercial Crew Transportation Systems" here.


Also, from Space.com, they want you to know the "Space Station Could Get Laser Cannon to Destroy Orbital Debris."  "Researchers suggest the Extreme Universe Space Observatory (EUSO), scheduled to be installed on Japan's module on the space station in 2017, could help the orbiting complex detect dangerous debris. They add that a powerful laser under development could then help shoot down this space garbage."  Learn more here.



Finally, from the TED YouTube channel, they Shared a video of Sara Seager giving a talk titled "The search for planets beyond our solar system."  Enjoy.



Saturday in Space on GRYMVALD.com
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Friday, May 29, 2015

Flora & Fauna Friday - Big Bass, Fly Eyes, & Frog-Licking

Just this week from kplr11.com comes the news that a "Fisherman catches Missouri-record giant striped bass" here.


Also, from nationalgeographic.com's "Proof" pages comes "Seeing Eye to Microscopic Eye," a pcitorial article that is truly worth a look here.


Finally, from the National Geographic YouTube channel, a recent upload features "Frog-Licking and Other Florida Wonders."  Enjoy!



Examining animals, plants, and the
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Thursday, May 28, 2015

Historical Thursday - German Knighthood, Crusades Brief History, & Siege of Acre

Three from the Medievalists.net this week with the first being "The Physicality of Service in German Ideas of Knighthood, c.1200-1500."  Learn more here.


Also, they focus in on "The Crusades: A Very Brief History, 1095-1500" here.


Finally, from their YouTube channel, "Enumerating the Battles, Skirmishes, and Naval Actions at the Siege of Acre."  Enjoy.



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Wednesday, May 27, 2015

Worldbuilding Wednesday - Stone Tools, Cave Paintings, & Exploration

Three from the National Geographic YouTube channel this week including "Oldest Known Stone Tools Discovered: 3.3 Million Years Old."  Sure, but if they were made on a Monday, I don't want to pay full price.



Also, they ask the question, "Did Humans Make These Ancient Cave Paintings?"  Watch and discover what they think.



Finally, check out the promo for "Mapping the Underworld | The Big Picture with Kal Penn."  Looks worth a watch.



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Tuesday, May 26, 2015

The Tuesday Sundries - Frodo's Walk, Volcano Drones, & Pyramid Droning

Over on mattsawizard's Imgur page, he asks the question, "How far did Frodo & Sam actually walk?" here.


Also, from the National Geographic YouTube channel, "Drones Sacrificed for Spectacular Volcano Video."  Spectacular!



Finally, from the same channel and also drone-related, they have some "Amazing Drone Footage of Nubian Pyramids."  Enjoy!



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Monday, May 25, 2015

RPG Media Monday - Medieval Avengers, Mad Max Rip-Offs, & Heat vs Repulsion

Over on The Ddurrrrian's imgur page, there are a handful of Medieval version of the Avengers and the like here.


Also, on io9.com. they warn those who might snag ideas from other properties with a feature on "The 10 Stupidest (And Most Shameless) Mad Max Rip-Offs" here.


Finally, there is a very nifty YouTube video on the magnil channel of a "Personal Animated Short [Heat vs Repulsion]."  Enjoy!



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Sunday, May 24, 2015

Setting & Society Sunday - Strong Bones, Palindrome Amulet, & Mithras Temple

Three from the last half year of archaeology.org with the first being a report saying that, "Active Hunter-Gatherers Had Strong Skeletons" here.


Also, not long ago, they found a "Palindrome Amulet Unearthed in Cyprus."  Find out more here.


Finally, work has been underway on "Reconstructing London's Temple of Mithras."  Check it out here.


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Saturday, May 23, 2015

Saturday in Space - Astronaut Selfie, Space Oceans, & Dawn Mission Pics

As posted on Pinterest, an "ISS astronaut takes the most epic 'Star Trek' selfie ever" here.


Also, listverse.com shares "10 Mind-Boggling Oceans That Exist In Space" here.


Finally, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory corner of the NASA website has amazing pics from the Dawn Mission including some "Ceres OpNav 8 Images" here (and the artist concept illustrations are really cool!).


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Friday, May 22, 2015

Flora & Fauna Friday - Jersey Jaws, Octopus Surprise, & Nautilus Live

Over on nj.com, a recent story claimed "Jaws spotted off the Jersey Shore? This shark tracker says so" here.


Also, valuewalk.com tells us that an "Octopus Has Ability To See Things With Its Skin" here.


Finally, check out the highlights and keep up with the undersea action on Nautilus Live here.


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Thursday, May 21, 2015

Historical Thursday - Old London, New Amsterdam, & Old New England

Over on openculture.com, they recently featured "The Oldest Known Footage of London (1890-1920) Shows the City’s Great Landmarks" here.


Also, on the Ephemeral New York blog on Wordpress, have at their many posts Tagged "New Amsterdam" here.


Finally, on caitlingreen.org, the personal blog and website of Dr Caitlin Green, "a historian and writer whose professional interests lie in the history, archaeology, place-names and literature of late Roman and early medieval Britain."  She recently posted about "the medieval 'New England': a forgotten Anglo-Saxon colony on the north-eastern Black Sea coast" here.


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Wednesday, May 20, 2015

Worldbuilding Wednesday - RPG Blog Carnival: Unusual Dungeons

Thanks to Nils “Bartmoss” Jeppe, the RPG Blog Carnival theme for May of 2015 is Unusual Dungeons and entries can be found here on enderra.com. The archive for the rest of the RPG Blog Carnival is on roleplayingtips.com here.


For my part, I am always torn between not wanting to reveal such secrets and wanting to wow my readers with something new and different.  Naturally, much of what I have felt over the years to be new and different has turned out eventually to have been quite similar to something someone else has independently created after a fashion.  That's not a big deal for a home campaign with players who don't get around much, certainly less so years ago before we all had access to the hivemind that is the Internet, but in our modern age it is difficult to come up with completely new ideas.  Thus, many games (and dungeons) tend to take some existing ideas and turn them on their head or simply use them as springboards for creation.

 Artist - Maciej Zagorski

One such for me came fairly early in my gaming/GMing career, soon after the publication of the 1E AD&D DMG.  Although I had been playing and GMing since the advent (O)D&D, when we switched to the Advanced edition I definitely was spurred on to expand what little campaign material I had.  One of the other GMs in our group had already warned us off the sample dungeon in the book and once we were through it, what little there was, we were all allowed to read the spoilers therein.  For my own part, I decided to use the setup for the dungeon, a ruined monastery with a below-ground complex.  I included the little-used road leading away from the small village and had a narrow causeway into a fen lead to a small isle (a sort of low mound) on which there were ruins (not just an abandoned monastery from the book).  I also included rumors in the village of a large red gem fabled to have been in the possessions of the monks long ago.  While I didn't have a thief in the village, I did have a group of bandits using the ruins as their headquarters though they had no knowledge of the dungeon underneath.

Artist - Maciej Zagorski

Part of what makes something unusual isn't always because it is unique or created from scratch.  Sometimes things can feel unusual to players because they sense something is familiar but find their expectations are met in a new way.  In this case, the dungeon below was laid out in a way to suggest the religion of the all-but-forgotten monks.  That in turn is a clue as to where the treasure is likely to be stored which is not the obvious place that many temples would utilize.  Further, setting off one particular trap also reveals an entrance to some caverns that are an extension of a vast network that sprawls across the continent, my own underworld of Tartarus.  This layering of the familiar with the unexpected twists allows for GMs to avoid tired cliches without stagnating on tired themes.

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Tuesday, May 19, 2015

The Tuesday Sundries - Creepy Chameleon, Floating Hostel, & Secret Island

A recent video from National Geographic shows a chameleon, or does it?



Also, for less than a quarter million dollars, you can snap up a sweet, sweet floating hostel that will accommodate nearly 50 folks.  Get all the information, including deck plans (for use in your next modern RPG) here.


Finally, on caribbeanislandbrokers.com, for just $350K, you can get yourself a 2.5 acre secret island.  I'd imagine the price on these to be dropping even as the oceans rise, so don't hold your breath.  On the plus side for us gamers, the website is sharing dozens of pictures from the air and water and right onto the island, so write this up, send some PCs there on their Floating Hostel, and populate that island with chameleons.  See more here.


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Monday, May 18, 2015

RPG Media Monday - Osprey Publishing Myths and Legends Reviews

The Myths and Legends from Osprey Publishing has swelled to thirteen volumes so far with a fourteenth on the way.  I've been keeping an eye on this series and thinking about adding some of them to my own RPG source material collection, since Osprey has always had a great reputation for publishing fine books for gamers.  As part of this watchfulness, I've gathered a few reviews here for others to check out on the first two books in the series as well as the most recent.  First up, a review from about two years ago from RPG.net on both Dragonslayers From Beowulf to St. George and Jason and the Argonauts, books #2 and #1 respectively, here.


Also, from Appendix N, the blog of Joe Kushner (a trusted reviewer), another look at Dragonslayers From Beowulf to St. George here.


Finally, from roleplayerschronicle.com, a review of The Knights of the Round Table here.


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Sunday, May 17, 2015

Setting & Society Sunday - Medieval Code Cracking, Texting, & Name Tags

Three from medievalbooks.nl, all from a little earlier this year, with the first discussing "Cracking the Code in Medieval Books" here.


Also, a tongue in cheek look at "Texting in Medieval Times" here.


Finally, some "Rare Medieval Name Tags" here.


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Saturday, May 16, 2015

Saturday in Space - Going to Mars, Sun Waves, & Space-Time

Over on epicstream.com, they are helping NASA spread the word that "The first manned mission to Mars is finally going to happen!"  Learn more here.


Also, on Space.com, "Giant Waves Reveal Surprising True Size of Sun's Atmosphere" here.


Finally, from science.nasa.gov, "NASA Announces Results of Epic Space-Time Experiment" here.


Saturday in Space on GRYMVALD.com
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Friday, May 15, 2015

Flora & Fauna Friday - Extinct Creatures, OK Tigers, & Medieval Bestiary

Over on likes.com, they display "10 Extinct Creatures That Will Haunt Your Dreams" here.


Also, on gawker.com, they like to remind us that there are "Tigers Roaming Free in Oklahoma" here.


Finally, there is a website in French and English that purports to be a Medieval Bestiary which brings to light the animals in illuminated manuscripts here.


Examining animals, plants, and the
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